Tuesday, December 20, 2011

What Happens When Two Gross Fruits Come Together? Something Surprisingly Good! Pomegranate Craisins Are All Right.


The Good: Surprisingly flavorful and sweet.
The Bad: Proportionately expensive, Not especially nutritious for a fruit snack.
The Basics: Craisins Pomegranate Dried Cranberries snack surprised me by taking two fruits I was not keen on separately and making one delicious snack!


It does not take much reading though my back catalogue of food reviews to learn that there is no love lost between the pomegranate and me. Yes, Jelly Belly couldn’t sell me on Pomegranate jelly beans (reviewed here!) and Celestial Seasonings failed to wow me with their Cranberry Pomegranate Green tea (reviewed here!). So, it was with understandably low expectations that I went into my exploration of Pomegranate Craisins.

And yet, Ocean Spray completely surprised me with this flavor! How the company managed to take two things I am not so keen on independent of one another, put them together and make something that is actually delicious, I do not know! Ocean Spray succeeded in getting me to eat two fruits I usually cannot stand and enjoy the process. Kudos to them! I would have more enthusiastically recommended this product if it had all of the nutritional benefits of the fruits in question, but largely I am very happy!

Basics

Craisins, for those who are not familiar with them, are dried cranberries. Ocean Spray was clever when they named this product: cranberry + raisins = Craisins. The Pomegranate flavor Craisins are cranberries that have been dehydrated and then infused with pomegranate juice. The intent is to make the dried cranberry taste more like a Pomegranate and Ocean Spray succeeds in making them taste exactly like a Pomegranate!

Pomegranate Craisins come in various sizes, but always in sealed foil packs. The larger packs have zipper packs that allow them to be sealed in for freshness. The serving size is one ounce, which is approximately fifty Craisins. The Pomegranate Craisins can be used in pretty much any recipe that raisins are required for as they react almost identically to raisins. If acidity is an issue in the diet or recipe, be sure to confirm that Pomegranate Craisins will work instead, though the Pomegranate infused Craisins do not seem as acidic as the Original and not much more acidic than raisins.

Ease Of Preparation

Pomegranate Craisins are simple to prepare. Simply open the bag and remove them from it! There is no trick to eating Pomegranate Craisins; they are a snack that is ready to go from the bag to the mouth.

Taste

Pomegranate Craisins smell exactly like pomegranates. In fact, I am not entirely sure I had noticed the aroma of pomegranates before now. But when I opened the bag of Pomegranate Craisins, the smell that came out was not cranberries. Instead, it was a sweet, fruity smell that actually made me smile.

The Pomegranate Craisins are an interesting taste sensation. They are all of the best parts of pomegranates and cranberries without the negative aspects. As a result, these Craisins are sweet like pomegranates, but do not have the annoying seeds. They are bold like cranberries, but not unpleasantly sour. The resulting fruit snack is flavorful and sweet, instead of sour and gross. I suspect to get this Craisin flavor tasting so good, someone at Ocean Spray had to sell their soul . . . or maybe just use a ton of sugar!

Nutrition

Pomegranate Craisins are an all-natural snack, with no artificial preservatives. Given that the ingredients are mostly cranberries, sugar, and Pomegranate juice from concentrate, there is nothing hiding in them that will surprise consumers. These have a shelf life of approximately one year, so it's not a bad food or snack to stock up on.

Each one ounce serving of Pomegranate Craisins has 100 calories, none of which come from fat. There are two grams of dietary fiber and no other significant nutrients in a serving. This surprised me, as I figured there would be vitamins, but the packaging does not indicate any vitamins in this treat! As a result, this is a snack that is not at all bad for consumers, but not exactly bursting with nutrients for them either.

Storage/Clean-up

Kept in their bag, Pomegranate Craisins will remain fresh for a year and as long as the bag is resealed, one suspects they will last that long anyway. Because I've been getting them from the terribly unenvironmental sample packs, I've never had to deal with issues of freshness for my Pomegranate Craisins.

Cleanup is simple as well. Pomegranate Craisins are a dry food and thus leave no mess behind. Simply toss out the foil bag and cleanup is done!

Overall

Pomegranate Craisins are a weirdly delightful fruit snack and were they more nutritious, they would come much, much closer to a perfect rating.

For other Craisin reviews, please check out:
Cherry Craisins
Blueberry Craisins
Original Craisins

7/10

For other food and drink reviews, please click here to visit my index page!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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